The True Dangers of Wearing Long Hair

Hazardous Hair.

Has this ever happened to YOU? | Source

These Hazards are REAL!

And many, if not most have happened to me, more than once! Maybe more than twice. This Hub is for informational purposes only, but double points if it makes you laugh! And I will add my personal best long hair story at the end of this article. It's a doozie.

Long hair is beautiful, and I've worn it that way since turning 18. I am so nervous at the hairstylist where 2 inches seems to mean 4 inches or more! Long hair takes work, time and attention. And hair is very strong, if you get it caught, it's going to stop you in your tracks!

No one would know she has long hair

Hair safely hidden under cap! | Source

The Number One Hazard: PLEASE READ

All of the rest of my Hazards are inconviences, funny but true or as long as they are immediatley taken care of, no one is worse for wear. However, there is one hazard to wearing long hair and being female that is dangerous. Researches who have interrogated men who assault and attack women have discovered these criminals look for certain things in their victims. Long hair (which makes vicitim easier to control) is one of them. So, if you are going somewhere you are uncertain of, put your hair under a cap or in a bun.

Let's talk "Whoops!"

OK, here we go! Please comment, and let me know how many of these have happened to you, or someone you know!

Long Hair vs. The Car Window

I cannot count how many times my hair has been caught in the window of a car. Once when I was the driver! This is a nasty hazard! Many times when getting in a friends car, they will roll up the windows, and unbeknownst to me, my hair was outside the window at the time, and it gets rolled up outside the window! A few miles down the road I will try to lean forward to speak to someone and I am CAUGHT! "Roll down the window, Roll down the window"...and it starts. When entering a car, make sure your hair is safely INSIDE the car with you!

Buttons, Zippers, Earrings, Eyeglass Hinges....

Getting your hair caught in your clothing or accessories is very common, and can leave you looking very awkward as you have to seek assistance if your hair has caught you with your head at a funny angle. Add double points if you have to ask for assistance in a grocery store or mall!

Long Hair in the Kitchen!

Long Hair in the kitchen, not such a good idea! Catching it in cabinets, or gosh, a running blender or mixer can cause a great catastrophe. Not to mention no one likes a stray hair to turn up in their food. If you are working in the kitchen, it is best to tie your hair back to avoid some nasty hazards!

Long Hair and Horse Riding

This one is common sense, TIE YOUR HAIR BACK! For your safety, and the safety of your hair. If your hair would get caught among the reins, or under the saddle, and you and the horse were to accidentally part company.....'I'm just sayin".......It wouldn't be pretty. And you would be needing to grow some new hair!

Long Hair vs. Fire

I'm just here to tell you, that FIRE is going to win. Your only defense is awareness of your surroundings, and caution. I've caught my hair on fire several times. Once from a lighter, once from my cat(i'll explain) once from a candle, and once from the stove. My cat walked across the table where several candles were lit, and he set himself on fire! It's amazing how fast humans can move in an emergency. He lit up so fast, but it seemed to happen in slow motion. I ran across the room, grabbed him up, and immediately I lit up too! Oh my gosh, so I threw Stingray in the sink, and ran the water over him, at the same time I was trying to get the fire out of my hair. Glad to say both of us recovered fine. Stingray and myself smelled like fire for a couple weeks. We both had singed hair for a while, and I never will forget seeing my cat light up like that, especially his tail! So ladies, BE AWARE of fire! Your hair is extremely flammable, especially if you use products. Please see first picture of hub for further proof of how quickly you can catch your hair on fire, and how traumatic it can be!

Long Hair vs. a Floor Fan

This has happened to me twice, with the same fan, in the same location. I was in college, in a dorm room. We had a rotating floor fan since we had no air conditioning. The lesson I learned is to NEVER kneel behind a running fan. IN front of the fan is fine. But BEHIND the fan is NOT fine. My dresser was behind the fan, and on the first occasion I don't even remember why I was behind the fan, but I got too close, and it sucked in the ends of my hair and before I knew it, it sucked in ALL my hair to where my head was against the back of the fan and the fan stopped running! I quickly unplugged it before it exploded, tried to move my head and couldn't! Panic set in very quickly. All my hair was wound inside the fan. I ended up having to pick up the fan with my head attached and walking down the hallway to a friends room and asking for assistance. I had to endure the laughter, but he took the fan apart, and patiently unwound my hair. This is a very clear memory from college. But apparently I did not learn my lesson because several months later, we had a 'party' in my dorm room, and some how, some way, I ended up behind my fan again, and *sigh* it happened again. But luckily, the same person who rescued me before, was there, and he very calmly rescued me again. After that, we put the fan in the closet, bought a new fan that sits in the window, and never had the problem again!

Lastly, I will rounded the hazards out with the smaller but still a pain in the rear things to watch out for if you wear your hair long. Gum and sticky candy get caught in hair of all lenghths. Take your gum OUT OF YOUR MOUTH before going to bed, and be aware of small children who have such items. I have heard using vinegar can remove these items. I have also heard using an actual lemon also can do the job.

Hair Dye, if you are doing it yourself is tricky with long hair. That's a lot of hair you have to get, and if you get the color wrong, that's a lot of fixing you have to do. I no longer dye my hair, but back when I did, I chose 'ash blonde'. I naturally have a 'dirty blonde'....blonde in summer, light brown in winter....hair. Well when I used ash blonde, it turned all my hair GRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, I had to have that fixed at a hair stylist. EXPENSIVE! Use caution when dying your hair!!

Getting Mats in long hair is a pain, but common with long hair. Mats occur when the hair wraps around itself. And typically they occur at the nape of the neck. They are very difficult to deal with. When the occur with me, I drown the mats with deep conditioner, then wrap my head in Saran Wrap for a few hours, rinse, then go to work. Typically I can recover all my hair with no cutting.

Small animals, sounds weird, but it does happen. I used to have a pet mouse. His name was minnow the mouse and he was SOOO cute. He outlived his life span X2 (mice live one year, he lived 2), and I played with him daily. Once when I wasn't paying attention he was crawling on me, and before I knew it, he was in my hair! I couldn't get him out! Let me just say, be aware of your hair when around small animals/insects. When entering a cave, wear a hat!

Tree branches have stopped me in my tracks so many times! Many times on walks, or hiking, I've gotten hung up. The group will notice I'm not with them, they will turn around and see me, and I will tell them I'm fine, I'm fine go on without me!! Then I have to untangle myself as quickly as I can, or break the branch and take it with me! Just be aware of low branches. For sure a hazard!﻿

Victim of the Car DOOR!!!!

Getting your hair caught in a car Door!

Saved the Best for Last!

Alright, I promised my 2nd best personal story to tell at the end of this Hub! And it involves a long hair mishap.

I was still younger. I was working at a fire alarm company, in the early 2000s, and I had my own office. Well I ran out of toner in my printer. Back then printers were HUGE!! Very wide. You had to take the top off the printer and reach in and remove the old toner package, and replace it with the new one. And when you replace the new one, the printer winds itself up and resets itself. Well.....I am sure you can see this coming. The ends of my hair was just a little too close. And when it was winding itself up, it caught the ends of my hair, and it wound ALL my hair, it was like a horror picture show for me, it wound all my hair until my face was attached to the printer! What a predicament I was in. Remembering my fan incident in college, I quickly reached down and luckily I could unplug the printer. However, the idea of picking up the printer with my face attached in a very professional setting and walking around the hallways seeking assistance was NOT something I wanted to do. I tried so hard to get my hair out. What was worse is that my hair was covered with toner. I was close to tears, there went my professional image. I had no choice. I had to pick up that HUGE and HEAVY printer, with one side on my face planted on it and enter the hallway. It was horrible. BUT, no one was in their office. It was lunch time. I could not find anyone. Oh no! I continued around the corner, and then there was our office manager, Lisa. I loved Lisa, and the look on her face, I just can't describe. She rushed me into her office and offered her assistance. She reached in and removed the toner, and unwound my hair. My hair was black. But again, no cutting necessary. But luckily for me, Lisa was the only one who saw! However she did not keep the incident secret, so everyone found out. BUT THEY DID NOT SEE! So, I am going to add, please use caution around any machine that winds anything up! Printer's, Clocks, Sewing Machines, Drills, Steering Wheels, Bike Chains, and Combine Harvesters!

So in closing, I recognize the desire for long hair, I wear it myself. It is beautiful and worth the work to have it. There are hazards to wearing long hair and I outlined a few of them in this article, as well as one potential life saving technique. I added a few hazards that occurred to me for humor, and did provide true dangers and techniques to avoid falling victim to circumstances that could harm you or your hair. I hope you found this article informative and funny, and do hope you will let me know if you did. Please participate in the following poll! Thanks for reading and providing feedback!

LONG HAIRED COMRADS:

Has a "long haired" incident happened to you? If so, was it in my article?

Yes. (please comment and tell me which one)

No. (I have no long haired incidents)

No. (my long haired incident is not in your article) IT WASN"T? Please comment and share yours!!!!

Comments

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sending

Jennifer Mugrage

23 months agofrom Columbus, Ohio

Oh, man. Great article. Thanks for the laughs.

I have had bad luck with those handles at head height just inside the door of a car or minivan. They are designed for you to hold on to when getting in or out, and some people also hang clothes on them when traveling. For some reason, our van's handles had rubber HOOKs protruding off them, and those things would grab my hair whenever I was wearing an updo. Finally I just took the hooks off ... we never used them!

The other hazard is kids. Babies can grab & pull hair just as they can jewelry, and older kids love to climb on your back and shoulders, pinning you hair between them and you.

However, my little incidents were never as inconvenient or traumatic as the ones you list here.

Robert

3 years ago

I lit my bangs on fire attempting to light a cigarette a couple years back. That was a sad night.

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